PTI exec assures Verizon board will have local reps

Pacific Telecom Inc., the prospective buyer of Verizon from Micronesian Telecommunications Corp., disclosed that it would include local members in its board within three years after the possible approval of the sale by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Commission.

PTI’s Jovino G. Lorenzo Jr. disclosed this in an interview after Tuesday’s CTC meeting, as he also revealed some plans to improve Verizon’s services should PTI eventually take over its operations.

“Our goal is to have the best possible membership. We plan to have locals in due course. From the beginning, we always wanted a local partner to spread the risk,” Lorenzo said.

Lorenzo said that there were plans to partner with at least two local businessmen in the past, but they did not materialize.

Currently, PTI’s proposed board includes father-and-son Ricardo and Jose Ricardo Delgado Jr., Verizon general manager Tony Mosley, Continental Micronesia president and chief executive officer Mark Erwin, retired Verizon Asia-Pacific executive Warren Haruki, Robert Anderson, and Lorenzo.

Gov. Juan N. Babauta and CNMI consumer counsel Brian Caldwell earlier expressed their opposition to PTI’s proposed board partly due to the absence of an independent local representative.

Lorenzo also said that PTI plans to eventually expand its business to Guam and Palau after taking over Verizon’s operations in the CNMI. “We want the CNMI to be a platform for that.”

During Tuesday’s CTC board meeting, Lorenzo said the sale would pave the way for additional investments in the CNMI, such as call centers. He said PTI has already been discussing a possible partnership with a corporate investor from the Philippines.

Establishing a call center in the Commonwealth is more viable than putting it up in other Asian countries, according to Lorenzo, who said the Commonwealth enjoys the protection of U.S. laws.

Besides citing PTI’s assurance to invest $20 million within the first five years of its operation of Verizon, Lorenzo also vowed to bring to the CNMI the latest global technology in the telecom industry.

“There is a development path organized already for CDMA. It’s far better than other wireless technology,” he said.

Lorenzo said PTI also plans to expand Verizon’s broadband capacities, enhance e-health, which allows live medical consultation from off-island doctors online, and e-learning.

Target beneficiaries of these plans are schools, libraries, hospital and health centers, he said.